different between meritocracy vs bureaucracy

English

Etymology

merit +? -o- +? -cracy, coined in 1958 by Michael Young in his book Rise of the Meritocracy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m????t?k??si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m????t?k??si/

Noun

meritocracy (countable and uncountable, plural meritocracies)

1. Rule by merit, and talent.
2. A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.

Usage notes

Though widely used as a term of praise, the term was originally coined as a satire, and a critique of awarding educational achievement.

Derived terms

• meritocrat
• meritocratic

Translations

References

English

Alternative forms

• bureaucratie
• bureau-ocracy (dated)
• burocracy (American)

Etymology

bureau +? -cracy, from French bureaucratie, coined by Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay from bureau (“office”) + -cratie (“rule of”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bj?????k??si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bj?????k??si/

Noun

bureaucracy (countable and uncountable, plural bureaucracies)

1. Government by bureaus or their administrators or officers.
2. (business, organizational theory) A system of administration based upon organisation into bureaus, division of labour, a hierarchy of authority, etc., designed to dispose of a large body of work in a routine manner.

3. The body of officers and administrators, especially of a government.

4. Excessive red tape and routine in any administration, body or behaviour.

Derived terms

• bureaucrat
• bureaucratese
• bureaucratic
• bureaucratically

Translations

See also

• adhocracy

Further reading

• "bureaucracy" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 49.